PHOENISSAE

Marica Frank

Dating

Phoenissae, the title by which the play is generally known, is taken from the E MSS; in the A MSS the play is entitled Thebais, a name associated with epic rather than tragedy. Although absolute dates cannot be assigned to any of Seneca’s dramas, there are several good reasons to believe that Phoenissae was Seneca’s last play. First, there are stylistic considerations. On the basis of Fitch’s hypothesis that the frequency of mid-line sense-pauses is indicative of a dramatist’s con dence with the meter, Phoenissae would seem to be Seneca’s last play. Fitch’s discovery that the shortening of the  nal -o, particularly in the  rst person singular of present and future active verbs, occurs more often in Phoenissae than in any of the other dramas, supports this chronology (Fitch 1981: 290f., 303–305). Second, Phoenissae treats the Theban legend in a unique way, combining the story of Oedipus in exile with the conict of Eteocles and Polyneices over the kingship of Thebes in a way that highlights and contrasts the roles of the parents, Oedipus and Jocasta. Such an innovative treatment of the legendary material suggests the con dence of a seasoned tragedian. Third, there is the play’s state of incompletion: it consists of only 664 lines of iambic trimeter, and lacks both a chorus and a  nal act.1 It seems plausible that Seneca, having already written a conventional Oedipus play in which Oedipus blinds himself, Jocasta commits suicide, and Oedipus stumbles of into exile, embarked on an adventurous literary experiment. Perhaps the dramatic di culties proved irresoluble or, possibly, Seneca’s withdrawal from Nero’s court in ad62 interrupted his composition.

1 Tarrant 1978: 229f., 251–253 argues that the play is complete as it stands and was intended by Seneca as a dramatic experiment, along the lines of Ezekiel’s Exagoge, in that it has no chorus and requires two changes of scene. 450 marica frank

Content

Phoenissae can be divided into four acts (1–319, 320–362, 363–442, 443– 664),2 but the more obvious division is into two parts, the  rst dominated by Oedipus and the second by Jocasta (who has clearly not committed suicide). Lines 1–362 deal with the anguish of the exiled Oedipus as he anticipates the strife between his sons; lines 363–664 treat Jocasta’s maternal anguish in response to the same event. The play opens with the blind Oedipus and Antigone on a path in the wild countryside near Thebes, possibly on Cithaeron itself. Oedipus is overwhelmed by a fresh wave of guilt and pollution (205–207). He praises Antigone’s  lial pietas (80) but begs her to abandon him so that he may stumble to his death, since he considers his self-blinding an inadequate recompense for his crimes. Antigone attempts to persuade her father to face his troubles with courage and live on (190–192), declaring that he does not deserve death and insisting on his innocence (204f.). Oedipus acknowledges his legal innocence but brushes it aside as irrelevant in the face of the objective horror of his crimes (218): dira fugio scelera quae feci innocens. It emerges eventually that the reason for his renewed furor is the news of the armed conict that is about to erupt between Eteocles and Polyneices (278–284), whose impending crimes against Thebes, their fellow-citizens, and one another Oedipus sees as proof that they are his ofspring (284– 287). Antigone immediately tries to use to her advantage the cause of her father’s new longing for death, arguing that, if Oedipus has no other reason to continue living, this one is enough (289f.): ut pater natos regas / graviter furentes. Oedipus counters her plea by saying that his sons have no respect for their father (301). He reasserts his determination to seek death (305f.) and Antigone, having exhausted her arguments, collapses in tears at his feet as a suppliant (306f.). Then, with a sudden change of heart,3 Oedipus, whose libido moriendi could not be weakened by persuasion and argument, yields to his daughter’s tears and for her sake agrees to live (319). This is as much as Oedipus will concede, however. The attempt of the Nuntius from Thebes to persuade him to return there to mediate between his sons gets short shrift from him. On the contrary, he urges his sons on to

2 Tarrant 1978: 229 divides the work into  ve scenes: 1–319, 320–362, 363–402, 403–442. There does not, however, seem to be a good reason for a change of scene at 402. 3 These occur frequently in Senecan drama; cf. Phaedr. 251, Thy. 488, 542, Med. 294f., Ag. 307.